


if my heart was a house you'd be home

by Lion_Blossom



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Kingdom Hearts III Spoilers, compliant until the ending at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-04-23 03:43:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19142866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lion_Blossom/pseuds/Lion_Blossom
Summary: ***KH3 SPOILERS***His heart sheltered her once upon a time. Perhaps her heart can return the favor now.





	if my heart was a house you'd be home

**Author's Note:**

> [Title comes from the song If My Heart Was a House by Owl City]
> 
> So this is my first ever KH fanfic, and also the first time I've posted a fanfic in years, so I'm a little nervous about it lol. But I got this idea in my head after finishing KH3 and trying to deal with all the emotions of that, and I just had to write it. Even though it's pretty certain Sora's not gone for good based on the secret ending, I'm still a little bit salty and wanted something ~~better~~ more than what we got for him and for Kairi in this game, especially the ending. 
> 
> But anyway, this is one of the ways I’d like to alter/headcanon the last scene. I doubt this’ll be the way it actually goes in the next game, but I still think it’d be nice! Either way, I hope you enjoy reading!

She was losing him again.

He had saved her yet again, risking everything to do so, and now he was fading away right in front of her. He even had the audacity to smile at her - that warm, genuine smile of his that always made her heart skip a beat and made butterflies take flight in her stomach. She knew he was happy that she was safe. That was always his priority: saving everyone else no matter what it cost him. 

But _she_ was not happy. She had promised to keep him safe. That was _her_ priority.

And Kairi refused to fail this time.

Instead of butterflies, a fire had ignited within her. A power coursed from her heart through her veins. It wasn’t the call of her keyblade; Destiny’s Embrace did not appear in her hand. Her heart pounded in her chest, the power and warmth growing stronger with every beat, her determination growing right alongside it. 

She didn’t know what was happening, only that she had to do _something_. She’d spent too long doing nothing, too long waiting for him, too long just _missing_ him. Her keyblade training was supposed to allow her to help everyone, to take part in the fight against the forces of darkness. Yet she had failed regardless. She’d held her own for a little while, but even that wasn’t enough. Xemnas had caught her, and then she had been able to do nothing against Xehanort, and Sora had to sacrifice himself to bring her back.

And it infuriated her.

That fury was the final spark - that power that had been growing was finally unleashed and light spread outward like a supernova. It was blinding, instinctively making her want to close her eyes, but Kairi refused to let Sora out of her sight. She gripped his hand, squinting against the light. 

_I'm going to save you, Sora._

Her eyes forced themselves shut in the same moment her hand felt only empty air.

-

Seconds stretched into eternity, and the power that raced inside her quieted down to a hum. She opened her eyes to darkness.

No, not darkness, not completely. Her eyes were quickly adjusting. There was a vast emptiness all around her, but her feet were standing on something solid, something that was giving off a pinkish glow. It was soft yet bright enough that she could see clearly. Kairi looked down - and her eyes widened when she saw an image of herself in the stained glass.

The image of her wore a dress similar to her current one, though it looked a little fancier, the skirt was longer, and it flowed outward at her feet. A golden crown was on her head. Her left hand loosely held her keyblade, and her other hand was facing up, curving under a circular image of Sora, his eyes closed.

Her heart skipped a beat, instinctively drawn toward the image. She moved closer towards him, and that was when she noticed there were also similar images of Riku, Naminé, and Aqua, though their eyes were open. She wandered around the whole image, taking in and examining every detail carefully. Around the perimeter of the circular platform was an alternating pattern of pink crowns and purple silhouettes that she recognized as the other six Princesses of Heart.

She returned to the center, where the portrait of Sora was located. She knelt down to get a closer look and noticed the outline of a paopu fruit behind him.

Her heart leapt. That had to mean something. 

“Sora.”

Kairi looked around, searching for any change in the endless abyss around her, but there was no visible change.

He was here though. She knew he was. Her heart knew it.

She closed her eyes to help herself focus, letting her heart do the calling this time.

_Sora, I’m here. Where are you?_

A brief flash of light made her open her eyes and look up - and there, in the distance above, a tiny ball of light, flickering weakly, floated down toward her. She held out her hands, cupping them slightly, and the light landed perfectly in the middle of them. It warmed her hands slightly, but it warmed her heart even more at the sound of the voice that came from it.

“K- Kairi…?”

Tears pricked her eyes. “Th-Thought you could get away that easy, huh?” Kairi smiled even as her voice cracked with emotion. 

The light flickered twice, and Kairi could almost hear the laugh coming from him. “I… I’m glad you’re safe, Kairi.”

“I’m here for you, Sora. And I’m going to keep _you_ safe now.”

“Don’t worry about me. I don’t… I don’t know how to get back, but-”

“We’ll figure it out!” It came out more forcefully than she had intended, but her expression had hardened, her decision settled. “ _I_ will figure it out! I won’t sit by and let you sacrifice yourself after everything we’ve been through! I...” She trailed off, trying to find the right words for what she wanted to say. There was so much to say, so much she should’ve said before all this happened, so much she wanted to tell him in person...

His light flickered uncertainly. She looked away from him for a second, trying to gather her thoughts. Her eyes fell on the picture of Naminé - and an idea occurred to her.

“I don’t know… I don’t know where I am, Kairi. I’ve lost connection, I… I don’t even know if this is completely me…”

“We’ll rescue you, Sora,” she said, her voice firm and confident as she turned her eyes to him again. “We’ll find you. We’ll find a way to bring you back completely. Until then, you can stay with me. Just like I was with you when this whole thing began. Remember?”

His light flickered for a moment...then she felt the warmth grow a little stronger in her hands. “Yeah... I do.”

She smiled. “Then stay.”

Keeping her hands cupped around the light, she brought him closer to her. His light moved toward her, warming her face, and she watched as the light disappeared from her sight. A tense second passed, and she feared it hadn’t worked - but then that unmistakable warmth in her heart assured her he was there, and she relaxed.

A door appeared before her eyes. She smiled, holding her hand out for her keyblade to appear.

“I’ll keep you safe, Sora,” she said, gripping the keyblade's handle firmly, her other hand over her heart. “That’s an oath I _will_ keep.”


End file.
